


A Lot More Than A Gold Medal

by BEM



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Beca's a runner for the 100m, Chloe's a Canadian beach volleyball player, F/F, olympic au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-14
Updated: 2017-12-19
Packaged: 2018-08-09 02:21:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7783099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BEM/pseuds/BEM
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Olympic AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Beca stepped out of the gym, dripping with sweat. Today's practice was her last one on American soil before she and the other Olympians would be heading over to Rio for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Even though she'd been counting the days, it was still kind of hard to believe it.

When she stepped outside, the reporters that had been waiting, immediately surrounded her. 

"Beca, are you nervous?" One of them asked, shoving his mic in her face.

Beca flashed the cameras a confident smirk, "Nervous? Yeah, I mean I'm 19 and about to compete at the Olympics for the first time. I think it's normal for to be a little nervous."

Another reporter took his shot at asking her a question, "What do you want to take away from these Olympics?"

"Gold," Laughter rippled through the small crowd of people surrounding her. "Nah, I know the ladies I'm competing against for the 100 meter are amazing. Like obviously I hope to get a podium, but if that doesn't happen then there's always the experience, you know? It's a big deal and huge honor for me just to be attending."

They flung more questions at her, but she had to go so she started walking to her car while waving at the cameras. When she got into it, she rolled down the window and said, "I promise everyone here that every athlete on our team will work hard to make our country and everybody in it proud."

With one last smile, Beca peeled away from the curb and onto the road. With her hands gripping the steering wheel, and her foot on the accelerator pushing the speed limit, she thought back to a time when running was punishment for her.

Growing up, Beca wasn't the most studious kid. She would always cut classes, and when she actually did go, she'd just spend the entire time fucking around and pissing off her teachers.

Most of them reacted to her like most teachers would; kicking her out of class, calling her parents, or sending her to the office. Those disciplining methods only made Beca's attitude towards school worsen, and it almost got to the point where she didn't want to go back. But she was glad she did because if she hadn't, she would've never met her ninth-grade math teacher, Mrs. Abernathy.

Mrs. Abernathy figured that Beca was acting out because she had so much pent-up energy and nowhere to direct it. So, instead of sending Beca to the office where she'd sit around with nothing better to do then hate on school, Mrs. Abernathy made her run laps around the football field. 

At first, Beca wanted nothing more than to hate it, but after a few days of doing it, she found that she liked putting her energy into something less self-destructive. She started setting goals for herself during laps and when she beat those, she joined the track team easily breaking all their records too. Mrs. Abernathy convinced her to move onto city records which she broke with a bit of effort. Then she went on to state records which involved a lot more time spent training but she still managed to break them just the same. 

She did marathons and races most weekends. She'd run every morning before people woke up. She'd run to tire herself out before bed. She'd run when she was mad, sad or upset—which would usually only happen when she couldn't break a record or reach a personal goal. She'd run to clear her head or more and more frequently, for fun. 

Beca had finally found her purpose. And she loved it. She loved it more than she'd ever loved anyone or anything. She loved the way her muscles burned in satisfaction after a particularly long run. She loved the way her heart beat in between the times her feet slapped the ground. She loved the feel of wind that barrelling past her, the adrenaline in her veins, the competition, the speed. She loved it all.

Making a split decision, as was the norm when she decided to get a tattoo in the past, she made a U-turn and drove down to the tattoo parlor, Body Electric. Most of the other athletes had gotten the rings so she figured she'd do it too, but with her own personal twist. 

She went in and a guy who had his own impressive collection of tattoos asked her what design she had in mind.

"The Olympic Rings," Beca said proudly. 

"In color?" 

"Yeah. I want a pair of sneakers in the bottom right corner and the US flag at the back of one sneaker." She stopped herself there before she could ask him to do something stupid like add her name in one of the stars in the American flag.

The guy nodded looking amused, "How big would you like it and where?"

Beca scratched her head, thinking where the best spot would be. "Just above my ankle. 3 inches by an inch and a half?"

"Is that a question?"

Beca shook her head. 

He told her to sit down on a chair and put her foot on a stool while he got his equipment ready.

Beca pulled out her phone and texted her best friend Jesse. 

 **Beca:**  I'm getting inked again. 

Beca took a selfie and attached it to the text before hitting send.

The guy came back and started the tattoo on Beca. It tingled and pinched a bit but didn't really bother her.

Her phone buzzed. 

 **Jesse:**  If I ever got a tattoo it'd say something like... _where we're going we don't need roads_ or _there's no crying in baseball_. Lol. 

Beca rolled her eyes.  

 **Beca:**  I'm guessing you're watching  _Back to the Future_  as we speak. 

 **Jesse:**  Just finished, actually. I'm starting _League of Their Own_  now. You could join me?

 **Beca:**  Or I could not join you?

It surprised Beca sometimes that Jesse could be as lean and fast as he was when he spent most of his time on his couch watching movies. 

When the tattoo was done, the guy taped it, instructed her on all the proper ways to take care of it and told her that she couldn't donate blood for six months. 

Beca nodded not really listening. She'd been through it all before.

She paid him and cruised down the streets of LA with the windows rolled all the way open, the wind tangling in her hair, and music blasting through the speakers.

* * *

Beca woke up the next day with a giant smile on her lips and her phone rumbling against the nightstand beside her. Today was the day. She and the rest of Team America were going to Rio De Janeiro and couldn't believe this was actually happening. 

She reached over and accepted the call. 

"Hey, Becaw!" Jesse yelled through the phone. "I have exactly six words for you: we are going to the Olympics!”

"I know," Beca grinned at the phone. She would never admit it, but she was glad Jesse would be going to Rio with her. "I'm not even mad that you woke me up."

"Great! Now hurry up and get ready. I'm parked outside your apartment." Jesse hung up before Beca could respond.

Beca shook her head amused. 

They'd be moving into the Olympic village in Rio today, but the actual Olympic opening wouldn't start until a week later. Then it was none stop sports and hopefully medals until the 21st of August.

Her schedule was nothing but training until day 8, where she would be in Heat 2 for Round 1. Day 9 would be the semi-finals and then the night after that would be the final race. Then for the rest of the Olympics, she'd get to relax and cheer on her fellow Americans until the closing ceremony.

Beca showered and put on a pair of Nike shorts and a white Adidas soccer shirt. She'd done ads for both companies before and as a 'thank you' they had given her an endless supply of their gear. 

She dried her hair, and did her routine of 100 push-ups, 60 pull ups, high knees, and even managed to fit in a quick run on her elliptical after eating her breakfast of eggs, whole-wheat toast, oat waffles and bacon. 

With one last look around her apartment, she grabbed her luggage off the floor and headed out the door to Jesse's car.

He gave her a severely pained look while she buckled in. "For someone who made it in the top ten fastest women list, you sure do take a long time getting ready."

"Shut up," Beca laughed, whacking his thick bicep with the back of her hand. 

The drive to the airport was mostly silent. Both of them thinking about what the next week and 16 days could do for their athletic career and telling themselves that even if they didn't win a single medal, they had still reached a huge stepping stone in their lives by just going. 

Most of the Olympians and coaches were already there when they pulled up to the airport, and after a quick debriefing, they all got on the flight to take their seats. Beca's was between Jesse's and the team's diver, Stacie Conrad.

"What're you guys most looking forward to?" Stacie asked.

Beca shrugged, "My race, I guess."

"Self-centered," Jesse joked. "I'm looking forward to seeing those smoking hot Canadian beach-volleyball babes in action."

Beca raised her eyebrows, unimpressed. "Canadians? Out of all _every possible thing_ , you're looking forward to the  _Canadians_?"

Jesse went off about how Beca shouldn't talk when she'd never even seen them before, so Stacie googled them on her phone and hummed approvingly when they came up on her screen. She the device for Beca to see.

On the screen was a picture of two tan and perfectly toned girls. One was of them was blonde, tall, and wearing a red bikini. The name under her picture said, Aubrey Posen. The other was redheaded and wearing a white bikini. Her name was Chloe Beale.

"The redhead's cute," Beca mentioned, nodding her head casually. Truthfully, she was a lot more than cute. With her clear blue eyes, straight white teeth, and athletically lean body, Chloe was aesthetically perfect. 

"Cute?" Jesse gasped, clutching his chest. "Since when do you call anything other than your _Nikes_ cute?"

"Oh, shut up," Beca said, rolling her eyes.

Stacie laughed. 

The pilot's voice came on over the intercom, "Everyone buckle in; We're about to take off for Rio De Janeiro."


	2. Chapter 2

After seven grueling days of waking up at 5 am, training hard, eating healthy, and going to bed at 8 pm, it was finally time for the Opening Ceremony.

To say Beca was excited would be an understatement. Her chance to make history and her country proud was finally here, and she was literally buzzing with joy. She was a little bummed that she wouldn't get to see the Opening Ceremony performances, but she was glad for the opportunity to mingle with the other athletes.

She'd seen a lot of them during training, but they kept to themselves, and she was too awkward to start a conversation. Jesse spent a lot of his time stalking the Canadians and keeping Beca informed despite her insistence that she didn't care. Beca had yet to see either Chloe or Aubrey in person though.

Right now, she was on the bus, squished between Jesse and Stacie, on her way to the ceremony.

One of the coaches went over what they were expected to do once they entered the stadium. They were going to be the 70th country in, between the Federated States of Micronesia and Estonia. When they reached the center, they'd have to plant a seed representing the reforestation of Brazil, and then after that, they could just take it all in.

The whole bus was practically buzzing by the time they came to a stop. Everyone got off, all of them dressed in Ralph Lauren jackets in the colors of the American flag. 

Jesse waved his tiny flag enthusiastically in Beca's face. Stacie grabbed both of her cheeks and kissed the tip of her nose, "This is it!"

Beca's face heated up, the diver was known for her overtly sexual attitude. It didn't bother the other team members, but Beca wasn't exactly big on being touched, especially not in public. She thanked the night sky for preventing anyone from seeing the deep scarlet she was no doubt turning a shade of.

Beca didn't remember much of the waiting in line part. It was all just a blur of too many selfies, snapchats, and loud music coming from the arena. It got louder the closer they got to entering the building.

The team screeched with joy when Phelps was given the huge American flag. Beca clasped him on the shoulder, well she tried to, but he was a giant compared to her, so it ended up just hitting his mid-back. They laughed and then they were entering the stadium.

The whole arena cheered and Beca was pretty sure her eardrums burst with the sheer volume of it. Jesse and Stacie were going wild jumping up and down and screaming at the tops of their lungs. They pushed Beca in front of a camera and she couldn't help but laugh. It was all being projected onto a huge screen, and it was a little weird seeing herself up there knowing the whole world was watching.

It was so loud Beca felt the vibrations shaking her bones. Louder than all of it, was her heart thudding in her chest with adrenaline and pride. This was really happening. 

Jesse was saying something to her, but she couldn't hear it and couldn't read his lips, so she just pointed to her ear and shook her head. He shook his head back at her which she assumed meant never mind.

Before she knew it, they were in the seeding area. Someone pressed a seed into the palm of Beca's hand. She put it in one of the little holes and winked at the camera recording her. 

Then they were being herded over to stand with all the different countries. Except Beca didn't make it to where the rest of her team was going because Jesse was pulling both her and Stacie over to where 300 or so Canadians were standing. They were all in red coats with white maple leaves on them.

"Jesse, what're we doing here?" Beca yelled at the other runner.

Jesse pointed and Beca followed the direction of his finger to Chloe Beale and Aubrey Posen.

They were at a good enough distance away from the beach-volleyball players, but Beca could still see just how electric Chloe's eyes were, the red of her outfit only making them stand out that much more.

"Well, come on," Beca said, nodding her head towards them. "Let's just say hi and leave. I promised Simone a selfie."

"No way, I'm too nervous. You say hi." 

Beca rolled her eyes, "Fine. Stacie want to co—where'd Stacie go?"

Jesse looked around the loud stadium and shrugged, "I don't know."

Then he shoved her, and she stumbled in Chloe's general direction. She couldn't catch her footing and almost fell, but hands gripped her waist and helped keep her steady on her feet before she could. 

"Careful there, clumsy," The voice easily cut through the screaming crowd but still managed to maintain a soft warmth that made Beca shiver.

Realizing she was standing only an inch away from the Canadian, her mouth fell open. She couldn't concentrate because, in all the commotion, Chloe's fingers slipped under her shirt and were grazing the skin just above her hip.

Beca took a step back making Chloe's hand drop. She rubbed her own hand up and down the front of her body. Letting out a nervous breath, she leaned forward and said, "Thanks for keeping me from cracking my head open. I'm Beca." 

"Chloe," She stuck out her hand for Beca to shake with an amused but pleasantly surprised smile on her lips.

Beca shook it, "Uh my friend over there," She pointed to Jesse over her shoulder with her free hand, "Has a huge crush on you and your partner."

Chloe dropped Beca's hand, her smile dying a little on her lips, "Me and Tom?"

"Uh, no. You and..." Beca scratched her head, Jesse never mentioned a Tom. "–The other beach-volleyball player."

"Oh, you mean Aubrey?" Beca nodded. Chloe turned around then back with a confused look on her face. "She was here a second ago."

Beca shrugged. She gestured with her head to the general direction of the Americans, "I should..."

"Okay, yeah," Chloe smiled still not quite as bright as it was before. "See you around, maybe."

Beca turned back to where Jesse was waiting for her with a huge smile on his face, "You guys seemed to have hit it off. How'd it go?”

"She was nice enough," Beca shook her head. "It doesn't matter though, 'cause we're not here to make friends and fangirl over Canadians. We're here to win."

Jesse frowned, "What about Aubrey?"

"No idea, she wasn't there."

Jesse's frown deepened, "Well there goes that."

She playfully punched Jesse's shoulder, trying to cheer him up. "Race you to the Americans."

"You're on."

They jetted off towards their team with Beca hitting the finish line a second before Jesse did. 

* * *

 

The ceremony ended later than most athletes had stayed up all week, so there wasn't a huge celebration afterward. By 1:30 all the athletes in the American building were fast asleep, including Stacie, who Beca was rooming with. She resurfaced at some point during the walk back to the bus, neither Jesse or Beca questioned her about her whereabouts.

"Stacie," Beca whispered. The diver didn't acknowledge her. Beca got off her bed and crouched next to Stacie's, "Stacie."

Still nothing.

Beca sighed, putting on her jacket and shoes before reaching for the doorknob. Technically, the coaches told them to stay indoors during the night, and normally that wasn't an issue because everyone wanted to rest up before their competition, but Beca had a ton of time before hers, and besides, she was young and healthier than she'd ever been. She'd be fine. It was only one night anyway. 

"Beca."

Beca turned around just in time to see a bottle of bug spray hurtling towards her head. Her hands went up reflexively to block her face from impact, but she ended up catching the bottle instead.

Stacie smiled tiredly at her, "You'll need that."

"Thanks." _That's two times already that I've almost damaged my head_ , Beca thinks.

She sprayed her exposed skin in the room but still took the bottle out with her just in case. When she exited the building, she saw a security guard standing there with a gun holstered to his hip. He nodded at her. Her eyes widened a little as she nodded back.

She decided to jog over to the Olympic Rings. There were a few tourists still out exploring, but it was mostly empty when she got there. She sat inside one of the rings, her legs dangling. She looked at the night sky, Rio was beautiful. Beca never got to travel when she was younger, so this was such an awesome opportunity.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

Beca whipped her head around to see Chloe strolling over with a bright smile on her face. It must have returned at some point in the night. Beca was glad, it looked way better than the half-hearted one. 

"Shouldn't you?" Beca asked. Something about the night gave her the confidence that she needed when they had first met earlier in the evening. 

"I wanted to see more of Rio, can you blame me?" Chloe asked. 

Beca glanced around, recaptured by the beauty of this place. "No, but Aubrey might if you're too tired to bump and volley when the time comes." 

"I won't be," Chloe said, confidently. "I've answered your question, now you have to answer mine."

"I couldn't sleep," Beca shrugged. 

"Nerves?"

"No, I just always have too much energy and it's hard to it shut off after something big happens."

"Like the Olympic opening?"

"Mhmm," Beca nodded, glancing up at the stars. They were brighter here than they'd ever been in LA. "Sometimes it's a good thing, but right now it's just annoying." 

Chloe sat down next to Beca in the ring. The circular shape of the structure, forcing their sides to be pressed against each other in the middle. 

Beca didn't turn her head to look at Chloe because if she did, she'd end up smashing their faces together in an awkward cheek kiss.  

"Will your coach be mad at you?" Chloe asked.

Beca shrugged, he probably would be, but she didn't care. Her coach could yell at her all he wanted, Beca was confident she'd get gold. "It's not really my fault I'm hard-wired this way. I can't force myself to sleep 'cause I'm not tired."

They stayed quiet for a long time until Chloe whispered, her voice wavering ever so slightly, "So how can we tire you out?"

Beca turned to face Chloe and was taken aback by how close their faces were. She opened her mouth to say something but stopped noticing how flushed Chloe's face had gotten. She looked scared. Like, full out terrified. 

Chloe visibly swallowed, "I'll race you. Let's do it from the American Building all the way to the Canadian Building and then back here." 

"What?" Beca jerked back, surprised. "You'll _race_ me?" 

"Is that hesitance I hear?" Chloe said, smiling teasingly. "What's the matter? Don't think you can beat me?" 

"Beat you? Beale, I held literally every record you can think of at one point in time." 

"That sounds like a bunch of big-talk coming from a person who's stalling," She grinned. She got off the ring and stood in front of Beca with her hands on her hip. 

"I'm not sure you can handle this," Beca said, cockily flexing her arms. "I mean I never even heard of you until I got on the plane to Rio. You can't be that good."

A flash of hurt crossed Chloe's face and Beca flinched. Idiot, she should know better than to degrade somebody about their sport. This was Chloe's life's pride just like running was hers, and she had just made it seem like it was nothing. 

"Chloe," Beca said, apologetically. She got off the ring and touched Chloe's shoulder. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have–"

Chloe took off running, and Beca was confused until she realized the direction she was running to; the American Building. 

"Hey!" She called. "That's a false start! You'd be disqualified immediately!"

Chloe didn't stop, "Come on, slowpoke." She threw the words over her shoulder with a laugh that echoed. "Prove me wrong!" 


	3. Chapter 3

Beca spends most of her training days after the Opening Ceremony with Chloe. Aside from the volleyball match against other Canadians on day three (which she and Aubrey won), Chloe's other games didn't start until around when Beca's races did, so with their days off coinciding, they seized the chance to hang out with each other. 

In the mornings, they trained with Jesse and Stacie. Jesse was thrilled just to be near one half of the pair he'd been stalking, and Stacie was glad to have someone to talk to when Beca and Jesse would spontaneously break into races.  

"Oh, come on Beca," Chloe said with an unimpressed look on her face. It was a slow morning, and Beca wasn't giving it her all, but Chloe never took training lightly. She was intense, pushing them to limits even their trainers hadn't. "I know you can lift more than that." 

"Yeah," Jesse agreed, and Beca shot him a glare while her arms trembled with effort. "Never give up, never surrender!" 

Stacie rolled her eyes and took the weight from Beca, "You guys, she's tiny." 

Beca huffed, crossing her arms while Jesse took her spot on the bench. 

"You're not really mad at me, are you?" Chloe asked, innocently batting her eyelashes. "I'm just trying to help you reach your potential." 

"You're crazy," Beca rolled her eyes. 

Chloe grinned. 

* * *

 

When they weren't training, they watched their teammates compete, and when it was Canada versus America, they'd trash talk each other. 

Beca watched on the edge of her seat as USA swimmer, Katie Ledecky breezed past Canada, Hungary, the other USA swimmer, and Australia in the water. 

Of all the Americans were up on their feet, cheering, Beca was the loudest. Chloe rolled her eyes. 

"Oh, please," Beca shoved her shoulder, playfully. "Are Canadians even capable of competition? Or would they be like, 'no, sorry, eh. You take the gold'." 

She busted out laughing at Chloe's offended face. 

"Yeah, well I didn't know there was even such a thing as muscular Americans," Chloe glared. "I thought you were all obese."

"That's cold, Chlo'," Beca sat back down, shaking her head. "But I guess that’s how you Canadians like it up in your igloos, huh?”

Chloe laughed.

* * *

 

In the afternoons, they'd go to the cafeteria and eat lunch together. 

“People are glaring at me,” Beca said, eyeing a particularly intimidating Canadian that was glaring at her. She twirled the wheat-crust of her pizza around her fingers. “I don’t think they like that I’m sitting with you.”

Chloe chuckled, "You’re being ridiculous. Nobody cares who you sit with. Did you forget that Ashton Eaton and Brienne Theisen-Eaton are married?”

“No, but Ashton says he gets criticized all the time,” Beca argued. She noticed a bit of sauce on Chloe’s bottom lip. Without thinking, she reached out, sliding her fingers under Chloe’s chin, and wiped it away with her thumb. “Think they’ll pull a Tonya Harding on me?”

“Beca,” Chloe admonished, sounding a bit hoarse. “You shouldn’t say stuff like that.”

Beca glanced over at her. “You okay?”

“I’m fine,” Chloe flashed a quick smile and went back to eating.

* * *

 

Beca's favorite time to spend with Chloe was at night when they’d go out and explore Rio together.

Usually, it was quiet, with only a few tourists still walking around. Chloe would stare up at the stars, and Beca would stare at Chloe. It wasn't too cold or too warm. It was neither here or there like this night didn’t matter like it didn’t exist. Like everything was frozen in a half-way state, and Beca and Chloe were the only ones free to live.

“This makes me never want to go back to Canada,” Chloe whispered.

They were on the beach with their toes in the sand, and their pants rolled up to their calves. Beca agreed, “This kind of night makes me glad I met you.”

Chloe looked at her, there was something as wonderful and bright as the stars, in her eyes. She reached her hand out and wiggled her fingers. Beca threaded hers through them. They walked along the beach not saying anything. Nothing they could say would capture how perfect this night was.

It wasn't hard to like Chloe; she knew the right things to say, she was funny and incredibly sweet. Beca was naturally an awkward person, but not once had she ever felt awkward in Chloe's presence. She hadn't come to the Olympics to make friends, but it had happened anyway, and she wasn't mad about it.

* * *

It was thoughts of Chloe that buzzed in her head when she walked into the deafeningly loud Olympic Stadium for Round 1 of the 100m races.

She smiled at the crowd, summoning every inch of confidence she had. They ate it right up. She already knew she was a hit with the Americans she just wished that she could make the whole world fall in love with her as well. Or at least envy her little.

Honestly, she wasn’t too concerned about this race. She knew she had trained vigorously for this and the qualifying rounds were always so easy, it was everything that came after, that raised the stakes, and made things harder.

She walked to lane four and adjusted the blocks. She set herself up like she would in the actual race and then took off to test if the adjustments were right for her; they were.

She smiled big and winked at the camera that followed her back to the starting position. In her head she pictured Jesse and Stacie rolling their eyes at her obvious show of cockiness. She winked again when the cameraman stood in front of her while the announcers were introducing her.

The stadium grew quiet when the all the racers took their starting positions. Beca reigned in her focus, it was no longer the entire world watching. Nobody but her and the other racers was in this moment. Beca’s heart thudded in her ears so loudly that she was afraid that she wouldn’t hear the air gun go off.

_Thud…_

_Thud…_

_Thud…_

**BANG!**

Beca flung off her blocks, it was sloppy and left her behind the rest of the heat. She squinted her eyes and pumped her legs, willing all her training to kick in. In one blink, Beca was in front of everyone, crossing the finish line with a smile that could light up the entire stadium. 

“Fuck yeah!” Beca swung her fist in the air.

Dripping with sweat, she left the track and headed up the stairs to the stadium. There were hoards of interviewers waiting to take a picture and conduct an interview. They called her name, congratulated her, and took pictures of her. She’d been instructed to only go to the interview with the American reporter, so she looked for the person with an American flag wrapped around their mic and went to that him.

The reporter was a bald guy with black-rimmed glasses, “We have America’s lovable troublemaker, Beca Mitchell here. Beca, how was the race? You came in first, congratulations!”

Trying to catch her breath, Beca answered, “Yeah, you know this race was pretty easy, so.”

“You’re starting was a little sloppy.”

“That’s definitely something I have to work on for my future races,” Beca breathed. People assumed athletes wouldn’t get winded, but what they didn’t understand was that they were giving it their absolute all against some of the worlds fastest people. It was hard.

“Your coach has been quoted say you never listen. Is that true?” The reporter chuckled.

“I just—” deep breath “—don't think you teach talent.”

The reporter howled with laughter, “Well there you go everyone, Beca Mitchell. Definitely, someone to look out for.”

“Thank you." With a wave, Beca left the reporter and headed to where her coach, Jesse, and Stacie were waiting for her.

Jesse pulled her in for a hug, “Way to go, Beca! You killed that! Oh, and coach is definitely going to have your ass for that comment.” He laughed and released her.

Beca swallowed nervously but didn’t have much time to dwell on it because Stacie was pulling her into her arms and then quickly pushing her away. “Ew, you’re sweaty!”

“Um, duh. Did you think being this good was easy?” Beca scoffs.

“You definitely had me fooled,” Said a voice from behind her.

Beca grinned, turning around to where Chloe stood, “You came to watch me?”

Chloe’s smile matched hers, “Did you really think I’d miss your first race?”

“I mean, I didn’t go to your game,” Beca said. “I didn’t think you’d come to mine.”

“Yeah, well clearly, I’m the better friend.”

Beca laughed, crushing Chloe in a hug. She bent backward a little, picking her off the ground and spinning her around. She felt Chloe smile against her neck. Beca had just come in first place in her first ever Olympic race, but nothing felt nearly as good as this moment right here.

Chloe’s breath hitched, and then she was struggling her way out of Beca’s hug.

“What’s wrong?” Beca asked, searching Chloe’s eyes. They had that same terrified look from the first night in them. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, fine,” Chloe said, running her fingers through her hair. “I have to go train with Aubrey, I’ll see you around.”

Beca caught her arm, “Wait, we’re celebrating my win after my conference with Coach—do you want to come?”

Chloe smiled apologetically. She touched Beca’s cheek, “I’m sorry, Beca. Maybe some other time. Congratulations on first place.”    

Beca clenched her jaw, it was obvious she was lying. This wasn’t the first time she had done that either. She always pulled away and then said she was fine when Beca asked her what was wrong. Jesse and Stacie frowned in confusion but neither of them said anything.

Coach screamed and screamed about all the technical errors she committed in her race but Beca barely heard him over her thoughts. When he played her the tape of the race, the only thing she saw was the hug at the end of it all. 

It had been caught on the big camera. The way they looked at each other, the way Beca had spun Chloe around, they looked like a couple. It made Beca's stomach twist. Then suddenly Chloe's was staring directly into the camera and her eyes filled with dread.

What was she so afraid of?

* * *

 

The day’s events undoubtedly led Beca out to the Olympic Rings past midnight. She knew if Coach found out, she’d get in trouble, but her brain was going haywire and just laying in bed would probably leave her in a worse mood than she already was.

Jesse and Stacie had tried to cheer up during their little celebration, but Beca was no longer in the headspace for celebrating. At dinner, her friends took turns barking at her to eat because as an athlete on a strict dietary plan, skipping meals was not allowed.

“Figured you’d be out here,” Chloe said, standing in front of Beca. She didn’t try to sit in the ring with Beca like she normally would. “I tried to catch you at dinner, but you seemed busy.”

Beca looked down at her Nikes, she had purposely been avoiding Chloe.

“Beca,” Chloe said, pleadingly. “What’s wrong?”

“I should be asking you that,” Beca said, bitterly. 

When their eyes met, Beca had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. Of course, Chloe had to look extra cute tonight, bundled in a charcoal grey hoodie with _Canada_ in red across her chest, joggers, and moccasins. Her hair was out, and her cheeks and nose were tinted pink from the cool air. Nights in Rio got cold sometimes.

“What do you mean? There’s nothing wrong. I’m fine,” Chloe insisted.

“You always say that,” Beca stood up, clenching her jaw.

“Maybe because I actually mean it?” Chloe shook her head, confused. “Why are you so mad? Is this because I didn’t come to your celebration—Beca, I was already pushing the limit going to see you race. I couldn’t have stayed to celebrate if I wanted to.”

“Okay,” Beca sighed, she didn’t want to fight. Chloe was either telling her the truth, or their friendship wasn’t at the place that Beca thought it was, and Chloe wasn’t ready to share whatever it was that was constantly freaking her out.

Chole didn’t look convinced, “Are we okay?”

“Would you tell me if I was doing something that made you feel uncomfortable?” Chloe pursed her lips for a moment, then nodded. Beca ran a hand through her hair, “Then, yeah. We’re okay.”

“Good,” Chloe took something out of the pouch of her sweater, “Because I got you something. I don’t think you’ll ever forget your first win at your first ever Olympics, but I wanted to get you something to commemorate it…and us. Um, our friendship.”

“What is it?” Beca laughed. “You look nervous.”

Chloe bit her lip, “Here.” She took Beca’s hand and carefully placed something into her palm.

It was a thick gold ring. In awe, Beca held it out in the light, engraved on the band was the Olympic rings and on the inside of it was,  _Beca + Chloe Rio 2016_. The saliva in Beca’s mouth dried up, she couldn’t speak. Chloe was looking at her with nervous expectancy. Beca just shook her head.

“Well,” Chloe's voice was teasing as she nudged Beca’s sneakers with her own. “Do you like it?”

“I love it, Chlo’,” She couldn’t believe she was getting teary-eyed. She hadn’t come close to crying in years. “This is the best thing I’ve ever…wow.”

Chloe grinned, “Put it on, slowpoke.”

Beca slid it on to her middle finger, “ _Wow_.” There was nothing else she could say.  

Beca pulled Chloe fiercely into her arms, hugging her tightly to her chest. At that moment, if it was up to her, she would’ve never let go.

That was the first night Beca realized she had fallen a little in love with Chloe Beale.


	4. Chapter 4

To get to Stacie's diving event at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Center, they had to drive an hour out to Barra da Tijuca. Coach was hesitant to let them go, but Beca wasn't going to take no for an answer. So, he compromised and let her go as long as her trainer could tag along and keep her active. She wasn’t allowed to relax because semi-finals were later in the afternoon and she had to be on top of their game. So, when they arrived a few hours early, Beca was forced to run laps around the parking lot.

"Come on, Luke," Beca whined after she’d run her sixth lap. It was hot out, and she had just been cramped in the backseat of a taxi between two muscular men. She wiped her forehead, her hand coming back soaked with sweat. She was melting. "Do you want me to die of a heat stroke? Coach would be pissed."

Luke looked a little nervous at that, "All right, fine." He grabbed a water bottle and some clothes from his backpack and threw them at Beca. "Go have a shower. I'll see you up in the stands."

Beca smirked, making clucking chicken sounds at him. Coach had Luke’s balls in a jar.

“Yeah, yeah. Cute ring, ay?” Luke smirked back. “S’that new?”

Beca blushed, heading to the showers without another word. She took out her phone, it had buzzed quite a few times during the ride over, but Beca couldn’t pull it out in fear that Jesse and Luke – who she was practically sitting on the laps of – would read the texts over her shoulder.

**Chloe** : Good Morning!

**Chloe** : You’re probably heading to Stacie’s event.

**Chloe** : Tell her I said good luck.

**Chloe** : I’m sorry I couldn’t come.

**Chloe** : Do you still want to meet me at the rings tonight? Let me know.

**Chloe** : Good luck on your race.

Beca scratched her cheek, so she was a little annoyed. Chloe had declined Beca’s invitation to come see Stacie dive because she wanted to be stress-free before her game. But Beca didn't understand how watching someone who wasn’t in the same country as you were, competing in a sport that had nothing to do with yours, hours before your match, could cause stress, but didn’t say anything. Chloe had been different since she had given Beca the ring.

But Beca wasn’t annoyed enough to skip out on a chance to see her.

**Beca** : I’ll tell Stacie. See you tonight.

Beca stripped out of her sweat-soaked clothes, opting to throw them out because there was no way she was lugging those with her in the taxi back to Rio.

Under the cool spray of water, Beca imagined the sunrays that had been trapped beneath her skin extinguishing and had to clamp her mouth shut to keep from moaning at how good it felt. When she was done, she slipped on Luke’s white t-shirt and sweats that no matter how hard she yanked on the drawstrings, hung loosely on her hips.

"Need some help there?"

Beca glanced up, meeting bright green eyes, “Um, no thanks. I’ve got it—” She tilted her head, squinting her eyes. She had seen this woman before. “You’re Aubrey, right? The other Canadian volleyball player?” Chloe’s teammate.

“Well, the other Canadian volleyball player isn’t my official title, but yes, I guess in a belittled sense that’s who I am,” Aubrey said looking less than impressed.

Beca winced, she really put her foot in her mouth sometimes, “Sorry, I didn’t mean it to come out that way.”

“Apology accepted,” Aubrey smiled, it was a perfect smile. Actually, everything about her – blonde hair, green eyes, toned body, straight white teeth – screamed perfect. “And are you the other American diver?” She asked wryly, glancing down at the American flag on the sleeve of Luke’s t-shirt.

What? Beca blinked, confused. She and Chloe had spent practically every second since the start of the Olympics together and she hadn’t once mentioned Beca to her best friend? Was she not as important to Chloe as Chloe was to her? Jesse and Stacie both knew about Chloe the morning after the first night they had hung out. She subconsciously ran her thumb over the gold ring on her middle finger.

“No, actually, I’m Beca. I run the women’s 100 meter,” She stuck her hand out and Aubrey shook it. “I’m here to watch my friend Stacie. She’s diving today.”

"Stacie Conrad?" Aubrey asked, suddenly looking very interested.

"The one and only," Beca smirked. “Hey, do you want to watch with us? It would make my friend Jesse’s year.”

"Sure, I’d love to.” 

* * *

 

Beca giggled, watching a diver walk onto the board. She jumped off and did a complicated twist, but her legs were a little off trajectory which caused her to land in the water with a pretty substantial splash. Beca laughed into her fist.

“Would you shut up?” Jesse nudged her in the ribs.

“I’m not laughing at her,” Beca defended, unable to stop her grin. “I just can’t get your face when you saw Aubrey out of my head.”

Jesse rolled his eyes.

When Beca had joined Luke and Jesse in the stands with Aubrey behind her, Jesse had completely lost what little cool he had to begin with. His eyes bugged out of his head and he began hyperventilating. Beca introduced them; Luke smiled and said, hey, and Jesse blabbered words that didn’t make any sense.

"B-Bec-Beca, t-that's Aubrey," Jesse whispered after they had sat down.

"Yeah, I know,” Beca smirked. “I met her in the shower.”

Jesse's face went completely red, his breathing quickened, “Y-y-you what?” He gripped the bleacher on either side of his thighs so tight his knuckles went white.

Beca furrowed her eyebrows and then realization made them pop back up. Oh my God, he wasn’t faking this. Jesse was full out panicking. "Jesse, dude, you need to breathe. We have semis today. You cannot pass out right now.”

“O-okay,” He took a few deep breaths. “Y-you can’t spring something like that on a guy, Becs.”

Beca laughed, shaking her head.

Eventually, Jesse chilled out and they watched diver after diver. Beca kept a mental note of the people Stacie should look out for, and Jesse hummed the Titanic theme song every time a diver jumped off the board and didn’t stop until they hit the water.

The divers were the best of the best from every country, so they were all obviously really good, and maybe Beca was a little biased, but she thought Stacie was better.

But one diver went with barely any splash at all, and Jesse looked at Beca shaking his head.

“Blinding, that was the best one so far,” Luke said, his British accent thickening the way it did when he got passionate about something.

“I know,” Beca nodded, craning her neck to see the diver get out of the pool. “But Stacie’s been practicing. Besides, this isn’t her first rodeo.” Unlike her and Jesse, Stacie had gone to the 2012 summer Olympics in London. “She knows what she’s doing.”

“She—”

"Shut up!"

Luke put a hand on his chest, Jesse yelped in surprise, and Beca raised an eyebrow at Aubrey.

Her cheeks colored pink, "Um, sorry. It’s just—Stacie's up."

Beca, Luke, and Jesse exchanged what the fuck looks, then Beca grinned and they lost it. Aubrey huffed and crossed her arms, which only made them laugh harder.

As soon as Stacie started toward the diving board they turned serious.

Stacie gracefully walked with long glistening legs to the tip of the board. Beca’s heart thudded as if it was her about to perform the jump. The air in the arena went tight with anticipation for a long minute. Then Stacie jumped and then jumped again, flipping around, and straightening herself out just in time to slip into the water with minimal splashing. Admittedly, it wasn’t as good as the diver before, but still good enough to get her into the finals.

"Yeah!" Beca jumped to her feet clapping. "Way to go, Stace!"

“Bloody fantastic!” Luke hollered.

Aubrey and Jesse whooped excitedly.

It wasn’t done yet though, they watched round after round after round after round of divers praying that they didn’t do better than Stacie did, as bad as that sounded. When it was finally over, Stacie had made it to the finals just like Beca knew she would.

They quickly descended the stairs to the main platform and Stacie ran over to them. She wrapped Luke, Beca, and Jesse, in one large group hug. They were a jumble of congratulations, nerves, pool water, and relieved laughter. Then Stacie let go and hugged Aubrey, spinning her around similar to the way Beca had done with Chloe after her race.

Beca cocked an eyebrow, "You two know each other?"

"Yes," Stacie said at the same time Aubrey said, “Just met, actually."

"Right," Beca smirked, at Stacie’s guilty expression. Jesse didn’t look too pleased. Beca patted his shoulder, "Come on, Jess. We’ve got a race to get to.”

“I’ll go fetch a taxi,” Luke said, leaving after congratulating Stacie once more.

Beca looked over at Aubrey and Stacie, “You two coming?”

“Can’t,” Stacie groaned. “I have to go see my coach, so she can tell me everything I did wrong.”

"Me neither,” Aubrey said. “I have a game against the Germans soon."

Realization hit Beca. Aubrey, who was one half of the beach-volleyball team, was here. If was Aubrey was here watching it, how stressful could it really be? The blonde didn’t seem like the kind of person that would purposefully do something to mess up her chance of winning. So, either Chloe was lying, or maybe they just had different tolerance levels for stress.

“Good luck with your game,” Beca told Aubrey. “Tell your teammate I said she’ll kill it, okay?”

Aubrey gave her a confused look but said she would.

* * *

 

Beca eye’s flicked up to the massive screen with the racer’s times displayed on it. She had fucked up. It started with her take off that wasn’t nearly as smoothed as she wanted it to be. It only got worse with the way her arms flailed too much messing with her forward momentum. And it finally crashed and burned to an end when she finished third in her heat.

Third in semi-finals meant she wasn’t automatically qualifying for the finals.

Wiping the sweat from her face, Beca climbed up the stadium stairs like she did after her first race. This time though, instead of talking to the reporter like she was supposed to do – win or lose – she brushed them off, knocking over a mic that was shoved in her face, in the process.

She was pissed, Beca prided herself on being exceptionally talented at what she did, and the race that she just ran was anything but exceptional.

“Fuck this,” She mumbled to herself.

She didn’t need to hear from Coach about how terrible her race was, she already knew. She turned and left the stadium, she couldn’t stand to be there. Sure, there were others that had done worse than her, but she didn’t care. The race she had just run was her personal lowest. The time, her movements—it all sucked.

Without giving herself time to recuperate, she ran to the Canadian Building in the Olympic Village. Right now, all she wanted—all she needed, was to see Chloe. Hear her voice, whatever, she just needed Chloe.

She pushed through the entrance of the Canadian building that was identical to the American one except for the red maple leaves printed everywhere. As Beca looked around, she realized she had no clue where Chloe’s room even was.

“Ooh, an American” A blonde said, excitedly. She eyed Beca’s red, white, and blue spandex crop top and shorts. “We don’t get too many of those in here.”

“Um, okay?” Beca said, scratching her head. She really wasn’t in the mood for conversation. She kept glancing around, trying to find anything that would tell her where Chloe was.

“What are you looking for?” She asked. “How did you even get in here? We’ve got pretty strict security.”

“Oh, you mean the moose out there?” Beca shot back. “Gave him some maple syrup, and he held the door open for me.”

The blonde laughed.

“Could you tell me where Chloe Beale’s room is?” Beca asked, jiggling her foot. She was getting impatient.

“How do I know you’re not some crazy fan?” She narrowed her eyes.

“Do I look crazy to you?” Beca demanded, gesturing to her last name that was pinned to her top. “Please, I’m in a hurry.”

“Mitchell. Oh, wait—I know you,” she snapped her fingers. “You’re Beca Mitchell, women’s 100 meter. I watched your first race—oh.” She smiled knowingly, “Come on, I’ll take you up to Chloe’s room.”

“I’m Jessica, by the way,” The blonde said, while they stood in the elevator. “I play doubles tennis with my partner Ashley.”

“That’s cool,” Beca didn’t pay much attention to tennis. She found it snobby—a stereotype she couldn’t shake, and right now, she really didn’t care.

Jessica led Beca down the hallway and knocked on the fifth door from the elevator.

“Who is it?” Chloe’s voice sounded from through the door. She didn’t sound like Chloe, something was different.

“It's Jessica. I have something for you,” She winked at Beca and Beca shifted uncomfortably.

“Come in, the door’s unlocked.”

Jessica wrapped her fingers around the doorknob and smiled mischievously at Beca.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“You’re really weird,” Beca rolled her eyes.

“Okay, sure,” Jessica wouldn’t drop the smile. Not even as she opened the door and motioned at Beca to follow her in.

“Hey, Jess. What did you—oh,” Chloe looked surprised. She was in an oversized sweater, laying on her bed, with her laptop open. Her eyes were tinted red, “Hey.”

From the laptop, a male voice said, “Who’s there, babe? Tell them to go away. It’s my daily girlfriend time.”

Chloe bit her lip, and Jessica whipped around to look at Beca. Her mouth slightly open, eyes crinkled in confusion, “I thought…oh, I guess I was—”

Tom, Beca thought, her heart sinking. She had completely forgotten there was even a Tom. It was so easy to forget when Chloe was always so affectionate. When Beca was so easily drawn in. Shit, shit, shit. She had forgotten about Tom and she had forgotten that Chloe was never really hers. Not when they were out exploring Rio at night, not when they held hands on the beach, not because Chloe gave her a ring.

And why would she think any different? Chloe had always said they were friends. But Beca had been subconsciously holding on to that saying, "Actions speak louder than words." Chloe’s actions were always contradictory. Sometimes, when she’d pull away, her actions screamed, just friends. Other times, Chloe would look terrified, and cuddle into Beca’s side, or kiss her cheek way to close to her mouth, and they whispered, something more.

“I have to go,” Beca blurted.

“Beca—” Chloe called out, but Beca was already in front of the elevator, jamming her index finger against the ‘down’ button.

The best thing about being a runner was that when she needed to escape, she could get away fast.

* * *

 

Beca googled Tom and Chloe on her laptop when she got to her room and immediately regretted it. Her chest tightened with jealousy; they looked beautiful together.

Tom was an assistant coach for basketball at Duke University. He used to play but stopped after he shattered his knee in a motorcycle accident. Tragic, Beca thought sarcastically, and then felt bad. She’d be devastated if she wasn’t able to ever run again.

Tom and Chloe were not only a beautiful couple, but they were an accomplished couple as well. They had a charity together for kids who couldn’t afford to join sport’s teams, they visited hospitals together and acted in a ton of commercials for various sports brands.

She crinkled her nose and erased Tom’s name in the search bar. Then curiosity got the best of her and she typed in her own name in Tom’s spot. She didn’t expect anything to come up, but she was wrong. There were a few articles, some Tumblr pages, and a hashtag—Bechloe. Beca clicked the first link.

**New Couple Alert?**

**By now you’ve all probably heard of debut Olympian, Beca Mitchell. She won the hearts of Americans – and the world – with her cocky smirk and devil-may-care attitude, and according to a source from inside the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, there are rumors that Mitchell may have also won the heart of a fellow Olympian.**

**In the recent weeks, Chloe Beale, Canadian silver medalist and two-time attendee of the Olympics, has been spotted with the American runner in several locations, but what really fueled the rumors in the first place was their iconic hug caught on camera after Mitchell’s first race.**

**(Picture of Beca’s arms around Chloe’s waist with her back to the camera while Chloe stared directly into it.)**

**Admittedly, the two athletes do look very cozy together.**

**However, the source went on to tell The Olympic Rundown, that Beale has been in a relationship with Tom Shepard for two years, and has publicly announced her love for him on many occasions. The source said that it was highly unlikely that there is any sort of romantic connection between the two Olympians.**

**(Picture of Tom in a suit and Chloe in a matching dress at a charity event.)**

**Here at, The Olympic Rundown, we’re not sure if the rumors of the relationship between Beca and Chloe – or as some fans are already calling it, Bechloe – are true or a figment of our imagination, but we hope all parties in this story the best.**

Beca snapped her laptop shut, and lay back on her bed, staring up at the stark white ceiling. She couldn’t form a single thought in her head. There were people right now in the world that thought she and Chloe were in a relationship. A real-life relationship. She twisted the ring on her finger. Sometimes, it felt like they weren’t that far off.

Beca’s phone rumbled against the wood of her nightstand. She let it go, if it was important, they’d call again. A second later, her phone was rumbling again. Beca reached for it, and clicked the accept button, “Hello?”

“Beca Elise Mitchell,” Mrs. Abernathy’s stern voice burst in her ears. “Your coach called me.”

“Oh, did he?” Beca rolled her eyes. “And what did he tell you to tell me? That I should pack up my bags and go home?”

“I think I dialed the wrong number because the Beca Mitchell I know isn’t a quitter.”

“Guess you should hang up then,” Beca retorted. The phone went dead, and Beca’s eyes widen, “Fuck.” She quickly redialed Mrs. Abernathy’s number, it rang twice and then she picked up, “I’m sorry, I just—I’m having a bad day.”

“And you’re entitled to have some of those, but don’t push people away because of it,” Mrs. Abernathy said softly. She always knew exactly how to bring Beca back down to earth when she was about to fly off the handles. “Now, are you going to stop throwing a fit and listen to me?”

“Yes ma’am,” No way Beca was going to make the same mistake twice. Mrs. Abernathy wouldn’t forgive her if she did.

“Good. So, your coach tells me you’re not completely out yet.”

“Really?” Beca sat up.

“They’ll compare your time with the other non-automatic qualifiers and if yours is the best, you’re going to move on to the finals,” Mrs. Abernathy said, excitedly.

Beca shook her head, “You’re serious? I still have a chance?”

“Your coach definitely thinks so, and so do I.”

“Holy shit, that’s awesome!” Beca laughed. “Now I feel like a dick for the way I acted.”

“You were upset,” Mrs. Abernathy reasoned. “Maybe next time you should wait before jumping to conclusions.”

“You’re right,” Beca nodded. “Thanks for calling, Mrs. A. You’re the best.”

“Don’t thank me,” she said modestly. “I love you, you know that. And as much as I want you to come home and meet my fiancée, I’m glad you still have a shot at gold.”

“Wait—another fiancée?” Beca asked. Mrs. Abernathy wasn’t the most committed when it came to men.

“Don’t say it like that, darling,” she scolded. “I really think he’s the one this time, Beca. He’s amazing.”

She said that about every guy, but Beca didn’t have the heart to tell her otherwise, “I’m sure he is. I have to call Coach and apologize for my behavior. I’ll talk to you soon.”

* * *

 

The door to Beca’s room opened as soon as she got off the phone with Coach, and was about to go shower. Stacie came in looking drained.

“I’m heading out again,” She said, grabbing a bag, and jamming a sweater and shorts inside it. “Heard about your race. You’ll definitely qualify Beca, don’t worry.”

“Thanks,” Beca scratched her head. “Where are you going? What did your coach say about your diving?”

“She said a bunch of things,” Stacie said, walking into the bathroom. Beca heard the drawer slide open and then shut. Stacie came out again, zipping up her bag. “I have to go. Don’t wait up.” She kissed Beca’s forehead and left the room as quick as she came.

“Okay?” Beca said aloud to the closed door.

A few minutes later someone was knocking on the door.

Beca stood from where she was going through her suitcase and dragged her feet across the room. Thinking it was Stacie she opened the door and said, “Did you forget something?”

“Beca,” Chloe slurred, standing in the doorway.

Beca squinted her eyes. Chloe stood in front of her, red hair all over the place, oversized sweater, no pants, socks, or shoes.

"What're you doing here?"

"I want to talk to you."

The smell of alcohol hit Beca's nose. “Are you drunk?”

“No,” Chloe laughed, suddenly. “I just wanted to see you."

The sweater slid off her shoulder, and without thinking, Beca reached out and fixed it for her. Chloe caught her hand and pressed it against her palm.

“Right,” Beca pulled her into the room and Chloe let out a loud ‘weee!’. Beca winced, “Shhh, Chloe. People are trying to sleep.”

“You’re no fun,” Chloe pouted. She sat on Stacie’s bed and bounced up and down like a child. Beca sat across from her, having no idea how to react to this. They stared at each other and when Beca blinked, Chloe gasped, “You lose!”

Beca rolled her eyes, “So, is this a celebratory-drunk or a sad-drunk?”

“I’m not drunk,” Chloe insisted.

“Okay, how was your game today?”

She frowned, and Beca got her answer. Aubrey and Chloe were officially two-time silver medalists and the Germans had won gold. This was a not a celebratory-drunk, but it wasn’t exactly sad either.

“You weren’t at the rings,” Chloe said, wiping at her eyes.

Beca shrugged.

“Why did you leave?”

“Because I forgot you had a boyfriend,” Beca didn’t see the point of lying. Chloe was long past drunk moving into obliterated territory and wasn’t going to remember any of this in the morning anyway.

Chloe’s frowned deepened, “you’re not like him.”

“That’s great,” Beca sighed, she really didn’t want to talk about Tom. “You should go back to your room. Aubrey probably misses you.”

“She left, and I don’t want to be alone,” Chloe whined. “I miss you.”

Beca smiled at that. “If you don’t want to leave then stay here. You can sleep on Stacie’s bed, but you have to sleep, okay?”

“I’m drunk.”

“What, really?” Beca made her eyes go wide. “I had no idea.”

Chloe giggled and Beca got off her bed. She knelt by her suitcase and continued looking for something to wear to bed after her shower. She pulled out a black shirt and boxers.

“I’m going to go shower,” she told Chloe. She was examining the sheets like they weren’t the exact same pattern as the ones on her bed in the Canadian Building. “Chloe.”

She looked over at Beca and grinned like she was seeing her for the first time, “Beca!”

Beca sighed, “I’m going to go shower.”

Chloe nodded.

* * *

 

Beca stripped and stepped into the shower. When she and Stacie had first moved in, it hadn’t worked. She had to call Coach and endure his endless grumbling while he fixed it. They weren’t the only ones who had broken accommodations either. Jesse and Benji, the male gymnast, had faulty plumbing in their room. Compared to that, Beca and Stacie had gotten lucky.

As the water finally warmed, Beca shut her eyes and ran her fingers through her hair.

Then the door crashed open and Chloe was ripping aside the shower curtain.

Beca screamed, “Chloe, what the hell?”

“I thought you left again,” Chloe pouted. She glanced down at Beca’s naked body and licked her lips. “I want to shower with you.”

“Well, you can’t,” Beca covered herself with her hands. “Get out.”

“You don’t love me.”

“Get out, Chloe,” Beca demanded, gritting her teeth. “We are so not doing this right now.”

“Why not?”

“Because I said so. Get out!”

Chloe started crying.

Beca groaned, resting her head against the tiles on the wall. “Stop crying.”

“But I want to shower with you,” Chloe sobbed.

“Oh my God,” Beca shut her eyes, her head was starting to hurt. She felt like she had skipped the drinking part and went straight to the hangover. “What did you drink? How are you even this drunk?”

Then Chloe was getting in the shower with her clothes on, and Beca didn’t open her eyes in time to tell her not to. Chloe stopped crying and shivered under the now cold water. She pressed up against Beca and wrapped her arms around her waist.

Beca’s mouth opened and then fell shut again. She was enjoying having Chloe against her, but at the same time, she felt like she was taking advantage. Some warped, depraved part of her mind thought Chloe probably wouldn’t even remember it if something happened. Ultimately, she decided to do the right thing and pushed her away.

“You’re drunk,” Beca said to Chloe and reminded herself.

“So, what?” Chloe furrowed her eyebrows. “Maybe drunk is the only way I can do this.”

Beca’s heart went haywire, “that’s too bad because you being drunk is the only way I won’t.”

“So, you would any other time, huh?” Chloe smirked, suddenly looking way too sober.

“You’re insane,” Beca said, she couldn’t bring herself to lie.

“And you’re into me,” Chloe said. “That’s okay. I can’t exactly say I’m not into you either.”

“Shut up,” Beca barked. “You don’t even know what you’re saying right now. Don’t fuck with me, Chloe. Just shut up and get out before I do something stupid.”

“I know what I’m saying.”

Beca groaned, “You know right now, but what happens in the morning? What happens when you’re sober?”

“I’ll still feel the same way,” Chloe whispered, and she didn’t look drunk anymore. She cupped Beca’s cheeks and ran her thumb over her bottom lip. “That ring—” They both glanced at it “—Is my promise that no matter what happens in the morning and everything beyond that, I’ll still feel the same way about you.”

“I want to believe you.”  
  
“So, believe me.”

And then they were kissing. Arctic cold water rained down on them, but all Beca felt was the heat off Chloe’s lips moving against hers.

Fingers slipped into Beca’s hair, and Beca slid hers up Chloe’s sweater. Beca was reckless, everyone knew that. But at that moment as Chloe’s tongue moved over hers, Beca had never been more careful. She very gently moved her fingers up Chloe’s stomach, tracing every ridge of her muscles. Mapping, and memorizing. She wanted to be careful.

Then Chloe moaned into her mouth and Beca never wanted to be careful again.

She ripped off Chloe’s sweater, pressed her against the tiles, and bent to kiss her breast, suck on her nipple, feel her against her tongue. Chloe pulled her back up for a kiss, and Beca smashed their lips together. She bit down on Chloe’s bottom lip, sucked on it, and tasted iron. One hand slid down Chloe’s stomach and slipped between Chloe’s parted legs.

“You’re drunk,” Beca breathed hard against Chloe’s lips. What she really meant was that this was their last chance. That after this, there was no going back.

Chloe met her gaze straight on, “I’ll remember this.”

Beca pushed inside her, Chloe pressed their lips together and moaned promises into her mouth.

* * *

 

With her eyes still shut against the morning sun, Beca felt around the nightstand with the hand that wasn’t trapped under Chloe. Her finger’s collided with her phone, she gripped it, bringing it down to her ear.

“‘lo?”

“It’s about time,” Coach said into the phone. For once he didn’t sound angry. “You did it, Beca. You qualified. You’ll be racing in the finals this afternoon.”

Beca sat up, rubbing her eyes. Her nose was a bit runny from standing in cold water for so long and her body ached a little from sex. “Dude, are you kidding?”

“Definitely not,” Coach laughed, something Beca’s never heard him do before. “Granted your lane isn’t exactly the best. But that doesn’t matter because making it to the finals in your debut year at your age, is something to be proud of, kiddo. You have an hour to get ready, get breakfast, and get down to the training center. Don’t be late."

“Holy shit,” Beca whispered to herself after Coach disconnected the call. She glanced down at Chloe, a big smile sprouting on her face. It was only 6:05 in the morning and the day was already perfect.

She carefully untangled herself from the sleeping Canadian, pressing a soft kiss to her cheek. Chloe stirred, making a quiet murmuring sound.

“I’ll be back,” Beca whispered, pushing Chloe’s hair out of her face. “We’ll figure it out then."

She left the room with the words 'I love you' on the tip of her tongue.


End file.
